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Elimination of the MPRA: Russian labor unions hammered under the law on foreign agents
Eurasianet ^ | March 29, 2007 | Irina Meyer

Posted on 03/30/2018 9:01:27 PM PDT by NorseViking

The liquidation of labor unions threatens to further weaken the entire system of protection of labor rights in the Russian Federation.

On January 10, 2018, by decision of the St. Petersburg City Court, one of the strongest Russian trade unions was liquidated - the Interstate Trade Union Workers Association ( MPRA ). The union was accused of receiving foreign financing with simultaneous participation in political activities. The MPRA appealed the decision of the court and is awaiting further hearings.

The judgment on the MPRA is not just a neutralization of the protest mechanisms before the elections. The extension of the law on foreign agents to trade unions allows eliminating the most effective of them, which threatens to further weaken the entire system of protection of labor rights of workers in Russia.

Not only a judicial decision, but even a potential threat to be accused of receiving foreign financing while simultaneously engaging in political activities, which is prohibited by the law on foreign agents, limits the institutional influence of labor unions. Grounded fears of judicial reprisals will inevitably push them to self-limiting their activities before negotiations with a specific employer on a specific conflict, at the level of a single enterprise, and to abandon the key function of labor unions.

(Excerpt) Read more at russian.eurasianet.org ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: foreignagents; norsevikingluvsputin; putin; putinloversonfr; righttowork; russia; russianpropagandists; russianpuppets; russianstooges; russiasucks; soros; unions; unionthugs
It is the labor unions, as representatives of the collective interests of workers, who are obliged to influence labor legislation simply by virtue of their institutional purpose, and thus should be concerned that the working and social policies are not infringed upon by the interests of employees, which was interpreted by the court as evidence of political activity MPRA. Thus, the new practice of applying the law on foreign agents threatens to further reduce the already weak influence of Russian labor unions on the social and labor policy of the state.

Representatives of the union community recognize that at the time of the adoption of the law, they did not see in it the possibilities for accusing trade union organizations of engaging in political activities.

The charge of obtaining foreign funding is no less restrictive to the court. MPRA is a member of the international association of trade unions IndustriALL Global Union , which unites more than 50 million employees in 140 countries, including. and in the Russian Federation. In addition to the MPRA, the IndustriALL Global Union includes nine other all-Russian trade unions. In the context of globalization, the participation of trade unions in international associations becomes a necessary condition for their effectiveness. The universal exit of transnational corporations to the positions of major international employers objectively requires reciprocal cross-border cooperation on the part of trade unions.

International trade union associations regularly organize trainings for trade unionists from different countries, training modern methods of protecting the rights of employees. Participation in educational training organized by IndustriALL Global Union is just the imputed by the court of the MPRA as foreign financing.

Following this logic, all Russian trade unions participating in the international trade union movement, including the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR) , http://www.fnpr.ru/ should be recognized as foreign agents.

The liquidation of the MPRA sends an unambiguous signal to the entire trade union movement, forcing the trade unions to ponder once again whether it is worth developing cooperation with foreign counterparts. International isolation is unlikely to contribute to strengthening the Russian trade union movement. The most vulnerable at the same time are free trade unions, which, unlike official ones, do not have economic support in the form of property inherited from Soviet times. But active trade unions are also under attack. It is no accident that the first trade unions in the FNPR , which are also members of the IndustriALL Global Union, were the first to defend the MPRA.

Experts of the Center for Social and Labor Rights note that the decision of the St. Petersburg City Court grossly violates the constitutional right of citizens to unite and does not comply with the Russian law on trade unions. Equally important, it limits the search for new formats for trade union work, including the abandonment of the outdated sectoral principle, which is increasingly hampering the development of the Russian trade union movement, and, in the first place, of free trade unions.

The liquidation of the MPRA once again demonstrated the universality of the law on foreign agents, https://210fz.ru/zakon-ob-inostrannyx-agentax/, widely used to combat civilian associations uncontrolled by the Russian state. Due to the arbitrary interpretation of the terms "political activity" and "foreign financing", the law can be used against almost any non-profit organization, from a large charitable foundation, such as Dynasty , to a local hunting and fishing society.

If initially the main goal of the law on foreign agents was human rights organizations, now the most active trade unions have become targets of persecution.

Reference: history of creation and growth of the MPRA

The trade union of the MPRA is one of the "free" trade unions of Russia. These are trade union organizations that emerged in the early 1990s , as an alternative to the so-called "official" trade unions belonging to the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia (FNPR), the heiress of the Soviet AUCCTU. Unlike official trade unions, which, for the most part, focus on the distribution of social benefits and "objective" mediation between workers and employers, often preferring the latter, free trade unions are focused on combating violations of workers' labor rights, and do not avoid, if necessary, go with an unscrupulous employer to a sharp open conflict.

Although FNPR absolutely dominates today in the trade-union space of Russia, covering about 95% of all unionized workers, free trade unions are clearly visible against its background precisely because of their high protest activity. The largest union of alternative trade unions is the Confederation of Labor of Russia ( KTR ), which includes the MPRA.

The MPRA was established in 2006 by employees of the Ford Motor Company and AvtoVAZ plants as the Interregional Trade Union of Automobile Industry Workers. Since the formation, largely due to his charismatic leader Alexei Etmanov , the union was distinguished by the ability to mobilize workers and organize successful protest actions.

It was at the Ford plant that the so-called "Italian strike" or " work by the rules " was first used, that is, a form of strike when the work is carried out with the strict implementation of all, even minor and all forgotten rules, and precisely within the framework of the prescribed obligations. This form of protest was then used more than once by Russian trade unions in other industries. And the most high-profile action of the new union was a 25-day strike at the Ford plant in 2007, which allowed it to raise wages by almost a third. It was this action that brought the all-Russian and international fame to the union.

In order to assess the complexity of the work of the MPRA it is necessary to know that the Russian labor legislation practically excludes the possibility of carrying out legal strikes .

Thanks to its activity, the union managed to achieve the conclusion of collective bargains beneficial for workers, a significant improvement in the conditions and organization of labor, including compensation for work in hazardous conditions at Ford, Volkswagen, Bentler Automotive and several others.

Since January 2014, union leaders have decided to expand their activities beyond the automotive industry. Having changed the name to the current Interregional Trade Union "Working Association", the MPRA has become an interregional and interbranch trade union hub (node) that supports young alternative trade unions at the time of their establishment as a result of workers' conflict with the employer. To unite workers in different industries, amendments were made to the charter, which were then regarded by the city court of St. Petersburg as inadequate to the status of the trade union organization, which was one of the reasons for the decision to liquidate the MPRA.

1 posted on 03/30/2018 9:01:27 PM PDT by NorseViking
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To: NorseViking

so you think it would be okay for the AFL-CIO to get big bucks from Putin ?


2 posted on 03/30/2018 9:54:41 PM PDT by vooch (America First Drain the Swamp)
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To: vooch

It is a good bet that Soviet/KGB/Russian money has been going to Marxist/communist/socialist-led American unions since the 1920s. The whole CIO was literally an extension of the Soviet KGB, esp. the UE (United Electrical Workers).

Read the congressional hearings on Communism and Labor from both the House Committee on Un-American Activities and the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, Sen. Judiciary Committee. It’s all there.

Today’s leftist unions, most spawns of older CPUSA founded/led unions (i.e. Local 1199 Hospital Workers Union; District 65 Distributive Workers, etc - NOW THE SEIU) are heavily socialist/Marxist led. The leader of the AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka, formerly the leader of the United Mine Workers of America, is a hardcore Marxist, with a preference in the old days for the Trotskyite “Socialist Workers Party”. You can read about him in their weekly publication “The Militant”, esp. in the 1970’s and 80’s, before they fell apart.


3 posted on 03/30/2018 10:00:38 PM PDT by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
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To: vooch

Of course not, but the point is unions need beating in Russia in order to make its industries competitive. Blue collar wages in Russia are rather miserable but overall labor cost is higher than in Germany for some reason. It has to be addressed either way.
Not to mention unions are a base of all kinds of Communist opposition.
In fact Ford did well against Russian auto unions on its own in the past without much help from authorities.


4 posted on 03/30/2018 10:05:27 PM PDT by NorseViking
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To: MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
It is a good bet that Soviet/KGB/Russian money has been going to Marxist/communist/socialist-led American unions since the 1920s.

You'd win that bet: Communists in the United States Labor Movement (1919–37)

Trade Union Educational League

In actuality, the TUEL was a cross between a mass organization and the industrial department of the Communist Party of America, The vast majority of its members up to 1925 were members or supporters of the Communist Party, as Foster noted to the Comintern in 1925. The TUEL was referred to as "The X" in the minutes of the underground CPA organization and was to a very great extend funded by the Communist movement. There were no dues collected for membership as a means of making it difficult for the AF of L bureaucracy or its member unions to purge TUEL adherente from their organizations -- there were no membership cards of any sort -- and the only visible means of financial support of the organization were revenue generated from a series of 10 and 25 cent pamphlets.

"Statement Regarding Funds for T.U.E.L. Received by Party, Moscow, February 23, 1926": The Soviet World of American Communism, p. 127

5 posted on 03/30/2018 10:28:34 PM PDT by Fedora
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To: MadMax, the Grinning Reaper; Fedora

Yes, but it seems like the roles are changing.


6 posted on 03/30/2018 10:41:43 PM PDT by NorseViking
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To: NorseViking
In USSR Russia workers paradise, no unions are needed.
7 posted on 03/31/2018 4:55:52 AM PDT by nuke_road_warrior (Making the world safe for nuclear power for over 20 years)
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To: NorseViking

Sounds like Soros might be involved.


8 posted on 03/31/2018 6:15:06 AM PDT by PAR35
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To: PAR35

There is a tipo is a date of this article. It is actually from this year.


9 posted on 03/31/2018 6:39:54 AM PDT by NorseViking
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To: NorseViking

Elimination of labor unions. Russia slides further and further back to communism.


10 posted on 03/31/2018 6:56:48 AM PDT by Midwesterner53
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To: vooch

You believe what that court said? You dont think its another Russian government lie to clamp down on dissent? I do.


11 posted on 03/31/2018 6:57:31 AM PDT by Midwesterner53
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To: Midwesterner53

IMO labor unions ARE Communism.


12 posted on 03/31/2018 7:11:08 AM PDT by NorseViking
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To: Midwesterner53

pluz, having a law which prevents foreign money going to political organizations is perfectly reasonable.

Unions are by definition political organizations.


13 posted on 03/31/2018 7:23:51 AM PDT by vooch (America First Drain the Swamp)
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